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Combat Arms Dev Blog (10/10/12)
There are two parts to this month's Combat Arms Developer Blog. The first one was released on the 10th October, while the second part is released on the 15th October. Part I - 10/10/12 Hello. I'm Sniper, and I'm in charge of maps on the Combat Arms Team. A new battlefield is coming in October! This map is set in Turkey, where Eastern and Western civilizations meet! We're working on a map that encompasses the distinct cultural and regional characteristics of Turkey. Map Concept Production Initially, there was a proposal to make a map based on Taksim Square, the most famous place in Turkey. However, after collecting information on the area, we came to the conclusion that this would not make for a good FPS level. So, we started searching for other Turkey Map concepts. We ended up with 3 proposals that we felt would best express the distinct regional characteristics of Turkey. #Ephesos (Roman Historical Site) #Cappadocia (Volcanic Eruption Area) #Sultan Ahmet Mosque (Islamic Temple) Hmm... Ephesos was a good choice for an exciting FPS map, but towards the later stages of production, we discovered that the complex shapes of the ruins were driving up polygon counts and hurting performance. When we finished work on Cappadocia, we discovered that the map felt more like a nature hike than a slice of Turkish culture. That left the Mosque, which we felt expressed the rich cultural heritage of Turkey best of all. It was still a technical challenge for us, though, because we would need to re-work the layout of the Sultan Ahmet Mosque to turn it into a quality FPS map. After a long period of consideration, we decided to commit to this plan, but alter the map concept a little to be "Small bazaar street in Istanbul with a view of the mosque". We reinforced the theme and setting of the map by placing Turkish flags, carpets, and other decorations all around. We also arranged the map to emphasize the unique appearance of the mosque. We hope you will enjoy this new map, and check below for a few more looks at it! I'd like to point out that the Turkey Map is still in production and there might be some changes when it is finally released in the future. Thank you all for the interest and support. DevBlog4.jpg DevBlog5.jpg DevBlog6.jpg DevBlog7.jpg DevBlog8.jpg DevBlog9.jpg DevBlog11.jpg DevBlog12.jpg Dev Blog.jpg Part II - 10/15/12 How's it going? I finally get to say my hellos to everyone through this developer blog. I am Desperado, the Planner for the Combat Arms team. I'm here to tell you about the Usability Revamps that are being added in October. The purpose of the Usability Revamps at this time is to review the overall usability of Combat Arms and provide better information to the users, along with making improvements. The revamps are mainly small changes to new information that is being added. Also, these revamps were made using the suggestions users have made through various channels and internal research. The small changes include Wait Room List filtering, map list re-ordering, and a safety measure for item deletion. To explain, the Wait Room Filtering will include filters for rooms available for play, and things like Wait Rooms without passwords and such. These options can be used to sort the Wait Room list to find and connect to a room faster. Currently, the Map List in the Wait Room is arranged according to the time it was added, so it makes it difficult to find the maps you want. To help this situation, changes has been made to put the map list in alphabetical order. So, if you know the name of the map you are looking for, it will be easier to find. Lastly, when an item in possession is deleted now, a notification is shown but one wrong click can cost you an item you want to keep. So, as a safety measure against item deletion, we are implementing a check where a special phrase has to be entered to delete an item. Although the above changes were very small, we took into consideration many suggestions and lots of research to make sure these changes would not hinder any smooth game play. For a larger change, we are adding a User Blacklist and Shop/Inventory List Method changes. For the User Blacklist, we have added this to take measures against adverse effects of communication. We know there are times when someone will continue to pour on insults or take actions that make things uncomfortable for you unrelated to game play. So, a Blacklist has been added to the Other Tab in the Options so that people who bother you can be managed by yourself and communications from those people can be blocked off. We made it possible to add or remove users through a user click menu or through a chat command. Lastly, there is a change coming to the Shop/Inventory List. Several hundred items are currently being sold in Combat Arms. So the Combat Arms UI is presented to the users as a list based on text to make it easier to look at the items. Category:Developer Blogs Category:2012